Life Ahead of Us
by MegStark123
Summary: The sons and daughter of the Avengers must figure out who they are in the world, struggling through high school, drama, friends and relationships with family and eachother.


Cassi Stark.

A well known name throughout the world. I am the first and onlychild of Tony Stark and Pepper Stark, so it's not like i am a normaleighteen year old. I am that shy girl with red hair and green eyes whogoes to Jamison High and doesn't seem very much like either of herparents. The girl who doesn't exploit herself like her father, but isn't afraid of the spotlight. The girl who has her mother's hair, butisn't as uptight.

I live in Avenger's Tower, along with my Uncle Steve, UncleBruce, Aunt Tasha and Uncle Clint, and their son, Sage. Sage has his mothers smile and his fathers humor. Quite a gentleman, and loves agood pizza. I've grown up with him my whole life, my best friend.

But I also live with Thor Odinson and his wife, Jane and theirson, Nikolai, mainly known as Nik. Nik, although his father is a great man and his mother a kindly woman, some how got a rude and playboy sense in him. I sometimes think maybe he is my fathers son and I am Jane and Thor's daughter. But then I look into the mirror and remind myself I have red hair, and Jane could never have given me that.

Nik, the rebel of the house, who is also best friend's with Sage and I, has a few different girlfriends each day, ditches school, plays pranks on our teachers (causing a few of them to quit or go on 'an unexpected vacation for an undetermined amount of time'), and single handedly runs the I Am Famous So Love Me or Be Socially Hated Forever crew at school. As Seniors this year, he loves to push around the freshman and tease girls. I am known as the Handler, the only one who  
can get Nik out of his funks and anger problems, other than Sage occasionally.

And we all live in the same Tower, so seperate rooms are called for. We all need time away from each other, the only real time we see  
all of each other at the same time is meal time, which has a rule for everyone to come and only to miss if you are deathly ill or dead. Dad's words, not mine.

"Cassi! Dinner's ready!" Sage's voice rings out at the knock onmy door. "Don't worry, your mom cooked, it isn't poison tonight!"

Last night's dinner was made by Dad and Uncle Thor. To say the least, we all thought the kitchen was irreplaceable and we ended up ordering pizza after that fiasco.

"I'll be out in a minute-I'm not decent, don't come in!" I shout back, running over to my dresser to throw on some sweats I had 'borrowed from Sage (alright, I stole them) a few weeks ago.

I hear Sage laugh and walk to the elevator, leaving me alone once again. I throw my glasses into the case, put my book on my nightstand and run a brush through my hair before hurrying out the door and onto the elevator. When I reach the level that we eat at, I slide into the kitichen to help Mom with dishes and silverware.

"I can get that mom," I reach down and take the casserole out of her hands, "you dont have to do everything."

Her smile lights up as she wipes her hands on her apron. "Thanks, dear."

I begin walking out to the dining room and nearly run into a mass of muscle and blonde hair.

All I can do is gasp out "Nik!" before tumbling straight into him.

"Jesus, Cass!" He reaches out with a scowl to catch hold of me and the casserole. I let out a sigh as I straighten myself out, cursing the long legs on the sweatpants. "You should wear your own pants once in a while and maybe you won't fall as much."

I smile at him and quickly put the food on the large table. "But my pants aren't as comfortable."

"Then at least ask for them before you take them. I had to sneak into your room and take mine back a few nights ago." Nik grins ruefully, probably making fun of me in his mind. Well, what can i say? I don't sleep like a princess. I occasionally snore, and sometimes, when I am very tired, I drool.

"Oh, hush. It's not like I was going to keep them forever." And with that, I begin to set the table, placing out dishes as Nik and Mother place out the silverware.

Soon our whole awkward, talkative, loud and obnoxious family joins us in the dining hall, We talk about Dad's expeirments in the lab with Uncle Bruce, Uncle Steve's new girlfriend Frankie, and Thor and Jane's trip to Asgard this morning.

"I still don't get why I couldn't come. I didn't even have school today!" Nik complains for the thousandth time.

"Like you would have even gone to school if we did. " I mumble under my breath so only Sage can hear it next to me. Her laughs and Mother looks at me funny.

"Why Cassi, would you like to stop mumbling and speak up?" She asks with a kidding smile.

I smile innocently and shake my head. "No thank you, Mom. I don't think I would like to." This continues to make Sage laugh harder, in which I kick him in the shin.

"Geez, Cass! I don't want to turn you in for abuse, but that one really hurt!" Sage knocks me aside, my spoon clattering to the floor.

"Someone must have seen that! Why doesn't anyone see what he does to me? I'm not the bad one!" I try to assure them. Mother lets out laugh while the others smile with assurance.

"Save that for the honeymoon, lovers." Nik gags. Jane then slides him an angry look and Thor ruffles his son's hair.

"My son doesn't mean his words. I personally think that he-" Thor is cut off by Jane asking if anyone wanted dessert, followed by rounds of agreements.

Needless to say, the dessert was fantastic and sleep came quickly in my well worn sweatpants.

The next morning, a dreaded Monday began, slowly but surely. The three of us kids have a morning ritual to get ocoffee from Starbucks every morning to keep us up during school, so that was what kept me moving.

"Cassi, let's get going! I want my coffee!" Nik pounded on my door as I finished up tying my shoe laces.

"Calm down! It's not like being late affects you!" I grab my backpack and burst through my door, making my way down the elevator and to Sage's red mustang.

Sage and Nik sit in the front sears, grinning triumphantly. We have a stupid game where whoever is in the front seats doesn't have to hop out of the car to get the coffee. I mostly lose, considering I am a girl and it takes longer for me to get ready in the morning. But of course, at sixteen year sold we had thought it would be fun, so I can't get out of it now. It's my own damn fault it happens so much a week.

"Shut up." I sigh as I sit down in the back seat. The car revs up and we bgin out speedy drive over to the closest Starbucks.

I hop out of the car before it even takes up a complete stop to run in and get our order. My favorite worker, Kevin, stands at the counter.

"Ms. Stark! I've been waiting for you. Your order is just about finished up." Yes, I know the staff here very well. I've been coming here for two years straight getting the same order each time. Kevin, a middle aged man who loves me like one of my uncles, has my order ready as soon as I get there.

"Thank you, Kevin." I grab my credit card from my wallet and hand it to him, picking up our coffee's in the carrier and grabbing my card on the way out to the car.

I pass out the coffee's in the car, the guys grinning and sipping their way through their coffee's before we can park the car at the school parking lot. I quietly sip mine, standing out of the car as Sage grabs my bag to carry it into school, as he has done for the past ten years of our lives. Nik runs ahead of us and catches his latest girlfriend around the shoulders. She squeals like the natural girl would around Nik, giggling and kissing him sloppily on the mouth.

"Can he at least get a closet or something? I think I might barf." I gag, turning away from the major PDA and walking inside with Sage at my side.

"We've known Nik for our whole lives, Cass. If he hasn't changed in eigtheen years, I'm pretty sure he wont change after a few more girlfriends." Sage casts a long glance to Nik, his dissapointment clear. "We can always hope, though."

I sigh and give his hand a squeeze. "Walk me to Algebra?"

"Why, Cassi, I'd love to." We walk the hall, ignoring the taunts and teases from other students about our family.

We get it a lot, being the kids of superheroes and all. Nik doesn't get them very often, so being around him helps. It's mostly the reason I stuck around him the first few years of school. His cocky attitude deflected the teasing, his grin and retorts back to them able to get me to smile. Sage ignored the comments, talking straight to me, trying to block the comments with his arm around me occasionally. We are three friends who stick together. Our fights end. The snarky comments from other students might not, but the three of us will always be there for each other.

"Hey, Cass! Sage." Sage's friend Max grins at us from the doorway to my Algebra class.

He has always liked me. I'm mostly sure it's because he has a man crush on my dad, but Sage is friends with him, so I have to put up with him.

"Hi Max." I grab my bag from Sage and thank him, walking into the classroom with Max. "Where's Jenna?" Jenna is Max's younger sister, who is also the smartest sophomore. She was moved into our Senior class this semester. Jenna has actually become a good friend over the weeks.

"Out sick today. She refuses to miss two days of school in a row though, so I'm sure she will be back tomorrow," Max sits in the back, where I usually sit. "don't worry, your nerdy friend will come back."

"Thanks for that." I roll my eyes and get out my notebook, which has drawings all around the edges of the paper.

Class goes as usual. Mrs. Bruns talks slowly, with that monotone voice that could put even the most energetic person to sleep. Her lectures take almost the whole class, not giving us anytime to start homework. Generally, beginning a Monday with this class makes the rest of the day go even slower.

After that class, school goes by unusually quick, and by the end of the day I am perfectly ready to have my usual trip to the library.

Every day after school, I go to the library and read books, go online, anything I want to. My ritual started when Nik had to stay after school for detention and I had no ride home, considering Sage was home sick. I had nothing better to do, so I had walked over to the library and found a nice book to read, and stayed for hours, until Nik had wandered over to the library and cried out at the sight of me without shoes on, my hair mussed up and my nose in a book. He had apparently been looking for me for over an hour. My phone had been tucked in my bag and hadn't been taken out for hours.

"Ms. Stark! Finally, a nice face to see." The librarian, Stacy Wood, sits at her tall desk, checking in books as always.

"I wouldn't miss my book for the world, Ms. Wood." I smile at her, walking over to the shelf where old books are held and pull out mine. To keep my book from being checked out, I hide it back there, where I know no student would look in a million years.

I sit in the worn out chairs in the back, biting my nails out of habit. I sink into my book, letting my imagination run free. Books are my freedom. Mother can't decide what I read, and my Dad can't judge me-he only reads science books. Mom buys me books so that I won;t make annoying comments all day. Ever since I was little, books have been friends to me. I didn't have many friends as a kid, Mom kept me close to home, always worrying about me getting kidnapped or stolen. Instead she took me to the bookstore.

"Cassi, are you ready?" I drop my nail from my mouth, looking up at Nik grinning at the door. Puzzled, I check my phone for the time.

"Two hours? How have I been here for two hours?" I ask. Checking my page in the book, I realize, sure enough, I am two hundred pages further.

"Sometimes I wonder how you manage to stay here for this long. It's so...quiet." Nik shudders good naturedly.

"That's kind of the point, Nik." I sigh. "It's a bit hard to read when people are yapping in your ear."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go, I can't stand here for too long, I might get nerd germs." Nik grins slyly.

"I am not a nerd!" I cry out, chasing after Nik, but not before tossing my book unto it's hiding spot.

As usual, Mrs. Bruns waves goodbye and I run after Nik, shouting profanities at him along the way to the car, Sage shaking his head, laughing, and opening the door for me as I reach the car. I scowl at Nik before grudgingly getting into teh mustang and crossing my arms over my chest on out way home.

Just a normal Monday in my family.

**Thank you for reading, even if you didn't like it. This is my first ever story on fanfiction, so give me reviews, good and bad! I appreciate all of them.**

**So look down, click review and write.**

**Do it.**

**Yes, you.**

**Don't you dare leave before you do it. :) -Meg**


End file.
